role in education

8/7/2019 Role in Education

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COLEGIUL NATIONAL ,,ALEXANDRU

DIMITRIE GHICA ALEXANDRIA

LUCRARE PENTRU OBTINEREA

ATESTATULUI DE Limba engleza

Education in the USA

Profesor coordonator: Elev:

Cercila Adriana Cretescu

Iulian

Cosmin


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Cuprins:

Introduction:

History of education in America

Content:

Elementary education,higher education,special

programs.

End:

Role in education


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The United States has one of the most extensive and

diverse educational systems in the world. Educational

institutions exist at all learning levels, from nursery schools

for the very young to higher education for older youths and

adults of all ages. Education in the United States is notable

for the many goals it aspires to accomplishpromoting

democracy, assimilation, nationalism, equality of opportunity,

and personal development. Because Americans have historicallyinsisted that their schools work toward these sometimes-

conflicting goals, education has often been the focus of social

conflict.

While schools are expected to achieve many social

objectives, education in America is neither centrally

administered nor supported directly by the federal

government, unlike education in other industrialized countries.In the United States, each state is responsible for providing

schooling, which is funded through local taxes and governed by

local school boards. In addition to these government-funded

public schools, the United States has many schools that are

privately financed and maintained. More than 10 percent of


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all elementary and secondary students in the United States

attend private schools. Religious groups, especially the Roman

Catholic Church, run many of these. Many of America's most

renowned universities and colleges are also privately endowed

and run. As a result, although American education is expected

to provide equality of opportunity, it is not easily directed

toward these goals. This complex enterprise, once one of the

proudest achievements of American democracy because of its

diversity and inclusiveness, became the subject of intense

debate and criticism during the second half of the 20th

century. People debated the goals of schools as well as

whether schools were educating students well enough.

Introduction: Until the 1830s, most American

children attended school irregularly, and most schools

were either run privately or by charities.

This irregular system was replaced in the

Northeast and Midwest by publicly financed

elementary schools, known as common schools. Common

schools provided rudimentary instruction in literacy

and trained students in citizenship. This democratic

ideal expanded after the Civil War to all parts of thenation.


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By the 1880s and 1890s, schools began to expand

attendance requirements so that more children and

older children attended school regularly.

These more rigorous requirements were intended

to ensure that all students, including those whose

families had immigrated from elsewhere, were

integrated into society.

In addition, the schools tried to equip children

with the more complex skills required in an

industrialized urban society.

In conclusion: Education became increasingly important

during the 20th century, as Americas sophisticated

industrial society demanded a more literate and skilled

workforce. In addition, school degrees provided a

sought-after means to obtain better-paying and

higher-status jobs. Schools were the one American

institution that could provide the literate skills and

work habits necessary for Americans of all

backgrounds to compete in industries. As a result,

education expanded rapidly.

In the first decades of the 20th century,

mandatory education laws required children to

complete grade school. By the end of the 20th

century, many states required children to attend


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school until they were at least 16. In 1960, 45

percent of high school graduates enrolled in college;

by 1996 that enrollment rate had risen to 65 percent.

By the late 20th century, an advanced education wasnecessary for success in the globally competitive and

technologically advanced modern economy.

In the United States, higher education is widely

available and obtainable through thousands of private,

religious, and state-run institutions, which offer

advanced professional, scientific, and other trainingprograms that enable students to become proficient in

diverse subjects. Colleges vary in cost and level of

prestige. Many of the oldest and most famous colleges

on the East Coast are expensive and set extremely

high admissions standards. Large state universities are

less difficult to enter, and their fees are

substantially lower. Other types of institutions includestate universities that provide engineering, teaching,

and agriculture degrees; private universities and small

privately endowed colleges; religious colleges and

universities; and community and junior colleges that

offer part-time and two-year degree programs. This

complex and diverse range of schools has made

American higher education the envy of other countriesand one of the nations greatest assets in creating and

maintaining a technologically advanced society.


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When more people began to attend college, there

were a number of repercussions. Going to college

delayed maturity and independence for many

Americans, extending many of the stresses ofadolescence into a persons 20s and postponing the

rites of adulthood, such as marriage and childbearing.

As society paid more attention to education, it also

devoted a greater proportion of its resources to it.

Local communities were required to spend more money

on schools and teachers, while colleges and universities

were driven to expand their facilities and courseofferings to accommodate an ever-growing student

body. Parents were also expected to support their

children longer and to forgo their children's

contribution to the household.

By the 1980s many public schools were receiving

federal subsidies for textbooks, transportation,breakfast and lunch programs, and services for

students with disabilities. This funding enriched

schools across the country, especially inner-city

schools, and affected the lives of millions of

schoolchildren. Although federal funding increased, as

did federal supervision, to guarantee an equitable

distribution of funds, the government did not exercisedirect control over the academic programs schools

offered or over decisions about academic issues.

During the 1990s, the administration of president Bill

Clinton urged the federal government to move further


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in exercising leadership by establishing academic

standards for public schools across the country and to

evaluate schools through testing.

The United States has historically contended with

the challenges that come with being a nation of

immigrants. Schools are often responsible for

modifying educational offerings to accommodate

immigrants. Early schools reflected many differences

among students and their families but were also a

mechanism by which to overcome these differencesand to forge a sense of American commonality.

Common schools, or publicly financed elementary

schools, were first introduced in the mid-19th century

in the hopes of creating a common bond among a

diverse citizenship. By the early 20th century,

massive immigration from Europe caused schools to

restructure and expand their programs to moreeffectively incorporate immigrant children into society.

High schools began to include technical, business, and

vocational curricula to accommodate the various goals

of its more diverse population. The United States

continues to be concerned about how to incorporate

immigrant groups.

The language in which students are taught is one

of the most significant issues for schools. Many

Americans have become concerned about how best to

educate students who are new to the English language


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and to American culture. As children of all ages and

from dozens of language backgrounds seek an

education, most schools have adopted some variety of

bilingual instruction. Students are taught in theirnative language until their knowledge of English

improves, which is often accomplished through an

English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Some

people have criticized these bilingual programs for not

encouraging students to learn English more quickly, or

at all. Some Americans fear that English will no longer

provide a uniform basis for American identity; othersworry that immigrant children will have a hard time

finding employment if they do not become fluent in

English. In response to these criticisms, voters in

California, the state that has seen the largest influx

of recent immigrants, passed a law in 1998 requiring

that all children attending public schools be taught in

English and prohibiting more than one year of bilingualinstruction.

Many Americans, including parents and business

leaders, are also alarmed by what they see as

inadequate levels of student achievement in subjects

such as reading, mathematics, and science. On many

standardized tests, American students lag behindtheir counterparts in Europe and Asia. In response,

some Americans have urged the adoption of national

standards by which individual schools can be

evaluated. Some have supported more rigorous teacher


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competency standards. Another response that became

popular in the 1990s is the creation of charter

schools. These schools are directly authorized by the

state and receive public funding, but they operatelargely outside the control of local school districts.

Parents and teachers enforce self-defined standards

for these charter schools.

Schools are also working to incorporate computers

into classrooms. The need for computer literacy in the

21st century has put an additional strain on schoolbudgets and local resources. Schools have struggled to

catch up by providing computer equipment and

instruction and by making Internet connections

available. Some companies, including Apple Computer

Inc., have provided computer equipment to help

schools meet their students computer-education

needs.

Schools had problems providing equal opportunities

for all because quality, costs, and admissions criteria

varied greatly. To deal with these problems, the

federal government introduced the policy of

affirmative action in education in the early 1970s.

Affirmative action required that colleges anduniversities take race, ethnicity, and gender into

account in admissions to provide extra consideration to

those who have historically faced discrimination. It

was intended to assure that Americans of all


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backgrounds have an opportunity to train for

professions in fields such as medicine, law, education,

and business administration.

Affirmative action became a general social

commitment during the last quarter of the 20th

century. In education, it meant that universities and

colleges gave extra advantages and opportunities to

blacks, Native Americans, women, and other groups

that were generally underrepresented at the highest

levels of business and in other professions.Affirmative action also included financial assistance to

members of minorities who could not otherwise afford

to attend colleges and universities. Affirmative action

has allowed many minority members to achieve new

prominence and success.

At the end of the 20th century, the policy of

affirmative action was criticized as unfair to those

who were denied admission in order to admit those in

designated group categories. Some considered

affirmative action policies a form of reverse

discrimination, some believed that special policies were

no longer necessary, and others believed that only

some groups should qualify (such as African Americansbecause of the nations long history of slavery and

segregation). The issue became a matter of serious

discussion and is one of the most highly charged topics

in education today. In the 1990s three statesTexas,


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California, and Washingtoneliminated affirmative

action in their state university admissions policies.

Several other issues have become troubling tohigher education. Because tuition costs have risen to

very high levels, many smaller private colleges and

universities are struggling to attract students. Many

students and their parents choose state universities

where costs are much lower. The decline in federal

research funds has also caused financial difficulties to

many universities. Many well-educated students,including those with doctoral degrees, have found it

difficult to find and keep permanent academic jobs, as

schools seek to lower costs by hiring part-time and

temporary faculty. As a result, despite its great

strengths and its history of great variety, the

expense of American higher education may mean

serious changes in the future.

After the American Revolution (1775-1783), the

founders of the United States argued that education

was essential for the prosperity and survival of the

new nation. Thomas Jefferson, author of the

Declaration of Independence, proposed that Americans

give a high priority to a crusade against ignorance.Jefferson was the first American leader to suggest

creating a system of free schools for all persons that

would be publicly supported through taxes. In 1779 he

proposed an education plan that would have supported


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free schooling for all children in the state of Virginia

for three years. The best students from this group

would continue in school at public expense through

adolescence. The most advanced of these studentswould go on to publicly funded colleges. Jeffersons

proposal was never enacted and his idea of selecting

the best and brightest students for special advantage

failed to gain widespread support. However,

Jeffersons plans for universal education and for

publicly funded schools formed the basis of education

systems developed in the 19th century.

Until the 1840s American education was not a

system at all, but a disjointed collection of local,

regional, and usually private institutions. The extent

of schooling and the type of education available

depended on the resources and values of the

particular town or city, on the activities of religiousgroups seeking to further their ends through schools

and colleges, and on many other private groupssuch

as philanthropic associations and trade organizations

that created different types of schools for different

reasons. Most institutions only provided educational

opportunities for boys from wealthy families. Public

governing bodies were rarely involved in the financingor control of schools.

The rise in American high school attendance was

one of the most striking developments in U.S.


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education during the 20th century. From 1900 to

1996 the percentage of teenagers who graduated

from high school increased from about 6 percent to

about 85 percent. High school attendance grewbecause more and more students regarded additional

schooling as the key to succeeding in an increasingly

urban and industrialized society. In addition, after

the introduction of strict child labor laws in the early

20th century, fewer teenagers entered the workforce

than they had previously, which gave them the time to

attend school. School provided teenagers with anacceptable alternative to labor that gave meaning to

their lives before they entered the workforce,

established a family, or began college. As the 20th

century progressed, most states enacted legislation

extending compulsory education laws to the age of 16.

Most students found it more enjoyableand more

profitable in the long runto stay in school beyondthe legal limits than to leave, or drop out, before

graduating.

The 20th century high school was a uniquely

American invention. More than elementary schools or

colleges, high schools demonstrated the American

faith that schooling could successfully address alengthening list of individual and social concerns. High

schools provided supervision and a place for youth to

experience adolescence with friends. They also sought

to give students education to meet the practical


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demands of everyday life, to get a job, or to go on to

more education. By Americanizing immigrants into

mainstream political and social values, public high

schools worked to accomplish for adolescents what thecommon elementary school had always attempted for

younger students. High schools thus embodied the

sometimes-contradictory values of educating students

to fit into American society while providing

opportunities for them to break out from whatever

social or economic circumstances constrained their

development.

During the 20th century participation in higher or

postsecondary education in the United States has

increased as dramatically as it has in American high

schools. At the beginning of the century about 2

percent of Americans from the ages of 18 to 24 were

enrolled in a college. There were fewer than 1000colleges then, with enrollment totaling about 157,000

students. Near the end of the century more than 60

percent of this age group, or over 14 million students,

were enrolled in about 3500 four-year and two-year

colleges. This tremendous increase does not even

include the 6500 postsecondary vocational and

technical institutes that enroll millions of additionalstudents but do not give bachelors or associate

degrees.


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Religious convictions motivated the founding of

the earliest American colleges, such as Harvard

(1636), College of William and Mary (1693), and Yale

(1701). In the 19th century rivalry among Protestantdenominations, and competition among towns seeking a

commercial edge over their rivals, were responsible

for the creation of hundreds of colleges. Almost all

were privately supported, and many failed to survive.

Nevertheless, 573 colleges existed in the United

States in 1870, a testament to civic and religious

support and to the faith of Americans in the power ofschooling.

Unlike in elementary and secondary education,

where public support and control of schools soon

became the norm, public institutions never dominated

college and university education. Unlike the religious

controversy surrounding elementary and secondaryschools, the religious origins of many private colleges

were never seen as a threat to mainstream values.

Government officials also believed colleges served

broad public purposes, such as the training of

physicians or engineers. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and

1890 provided federal financial support to state

universities. The acts also led to the establishment ofmany new land-grant colleges and state universities

through gifts of federal land to the states for the

support of higher education.


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Discrimination against women and girls has been

as pervasive in American schools as discrimination

based on race. Laws in the 19th century required

states to provide equal educational opportunity forboth boys and girls. Most public schools were

coeducational, yet many teachers subtly but firmly

suggested to girls that a womans place was mainly in

the home rather than in secondary schools, colleges,

or professionsunless the intended career was school

teaching. Educators first encouraged broader views of

womens life possibilities in all-girls schools and,especially, womens colleges. During the mid-19th

century female education reformers, including

Catharine Esther Beecher, Emma Willard, and Mary

Lyon, established womens academies that provided

female students with secondary and sometimes

college-level instruction and offered subjects that

educators previously considered unnecessary forwomen, such as mathematics, science, and history.

The first coeducational college was Oberlin College

(founded in 1833), the first enduring all-womens

college was Vassar College (1861), and the first

graduate school for women was at Bryn Mawr College

(1880).

Many educators and some political leaders have

increasingly viewed mere access to a school and its

offerings as an inadequate solution to the problem of

educational inequality. Especially since the 1960s,


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education reformers have argued that special

programs and resources were essential to guarantee

genuine equality of education to disadvantaged youth.

Title I (later called Chapter I) of the Elementary andSecondary Education Act of 1965 provided federal

funds for supplementary education programs targeted

toward poor and black children. Most of these funds

were spent on young children, according to a prevailing

theory that educational disadvantages could best be

eliminated at an early age, before their effects had

become more difficult to reverse. The federal HeadStart program, established in 1965, created special

education programs for preschoolers and remains one

of the most admired achievements of the War on

Poverty programs of the 1960s.

The federal government has also provided

financial assistance for educational programs for otherdisadvantaged groups. The Bilingual Education Act,

part of the 1967 amendments to the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act, authorized federal funds

for school districts having substantial numbers of

students with limited mastery of English. Estimates of

the number of students in the United States with

limited mastery of English range from 2.5 to 4.6million, or from 7 to 10 percent of the U.S. student

population.


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The Education for All Handicapped Children Act

of 1975 mandated individualized instructional programs

for students with disabilities. It also called for

placing such students, whenever possible, in regularclassrooms rather than separating them from

mainstream students. In 1994 the U.S. Department

of Education reported that 6.6 percent of all

Americans below age 21 received special education

services.

End:Education is fundamental to Americanculture in more ways than providing literacy and job

skills. Educational institutions are the setting where

scholars interpret and pass on the meaning of the

American experience. They analyze what America is as

a society by interpreting the nations past and defining

objectives for the future. That information eventually

forms the basis for what children learn fromteachers, textbooks, and curricula. Thus, the work of

educational institutions is far more important than

even job training, although this is usually foremost in

peoples minds.

The national system of formal education in the

United States developed in the 19th century. Itdiffered from education systems of other Western

societies in three fundamental aspects. First,

Americans were more inclined to regard education as a

solution to various social problems. Second, because


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they had this confidence in the power of education,

Americans provided more years of schooling for a

larger percentage of the population than other

countries. Third, educational institutions wereprimarily governed by local authorities rather than by

federal ones.

The most notable characteristic of the American

education system is the large number of people it

serves. In 1995, 87 percent of Americans between

age 25 and 29 had graduated from high school. Amongthose who had completed high school, 62 percent had

completed at least some college, and 28 percent had

earned at least a bachelors degree. Expanding access

to college education is an important priority for the

U.S. government. In his 1997 State of the Union

address U.S. president Bill Clinton called for the

creation of new public policy to enable virtually everyhigh school graduate to receive some form of college

education.

Despite the fact that American education has

provided unprecedented educational opportunities,

some groups of Americans have benefited from the

system more than others. Especially since the 1950s,public policy toward education has sought to provide

greater equitythat is, equality of educational

opportunity for all Americans. Policymakers have

attempted to eliminate various forms of discrimination


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in schools even more than they have addressed issues

of educational quality or standards. Most federal

intervention into the educational practices of local

school relates to issues of equal educationalopportunity.

role in education

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